1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a collapsible basket that is employed to protect roots of trees and plants from destruction by underground rodents such as gophers and moles, and more particularly to a collapsible wire basket that is adapted to be expanded so as to receive and confine the entire soil-bound root system of young trees and/or plants within the basket by means of a support strap, which is attached to the basket.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well known in the art, various problems and difficulties are encountered in providing suitable means for protecting the young tender roots of trees and plants that are often planted in areas infested with underground rodents.
Many types of devices and methods have been used and are still being employed at the present time to safely rid an area of gophers and moles. There are gopher traps of all types including above-ground as well as in-ground devices. However, traps are generally inadequate in eliminating all of the rodent infestation in a given area. Poison chemicals are also used but chemical methods are generally no longer accepted since they create a dangerous environmental condition, particularly in areas inhabited or used by children and pets. This is especially true adjacent landscaped areas.
In locations that have a history of rodent problems, the gardener will typically dig a hole in the ground and line the hole with chicken wire prior to placing a tree or plant into the hole so that, when the base of the tree or plant is inserted into the dug hole, it will be surrounded by the protective wire. However, this method is often not employed as chicken wire is not always available or it is very difficult and time-consuming to dig a hole with the larger diameter necessary when using protective wire mesh.
Another alternative method of protecting plants from underground rodents such as gophers is to modify the landscape by planting trees in raised beds having built-in underground protection at the bottom, thus requiring substantial visual alteration of the landscaping, not to mention the additional time and expense of modifying the landscaping. The average homeowner does not relish the hard work, extra time, and the added expense needed for such modifications. Thus, any effective remedy must be relatively simple to install and inexpensive to maintain.
As examples of tree and plant protective devices one may refer to German Patent 2418412, November/1975, which is a non-collapsible wire basket, or more particularly to German Patent 2951-655, July/1981, which is a collapsible basket similar to the present invention. However, after testing this type of basket it was found that, because it is designed to collapse, it requires two individuals to successfully mount it since it lacks a support means to prevent it from dropping loose from the tree root system when it is moved to position the root system in the ground.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,279, ROOT CONTROL PLANTER, issued to M. D. Moorman. This particular device comprises a plant container having slick sloping side walls of impenetrable material that is buried in the ground with a young tree positioned therein, whereby the container prevents the roots of the tree from pushing against and cracking a nearby sidewalk.